910. Engine and Airplane – Will It Be a Happy Marriage?

Paper

Abstract

In the past, new aircraft designs have generally been restricted to the use of ‘off-the-shelf’ engines. As a rule, engine selection has been limited to two or three power-plants which are either in production or under development. Thus, the range of engine characteristics has been extremely narrow. In this study, all such restrictions have been removed, and the engine aerodynamic cycle, size, and configuration are dictated solely by the aircraft mission requirements. A matrix of engines was designed at various bypass ratios, pressure ratios, and turbine temperatures. The effect of these variables on engine performance and weight-and, thus, on the aircraft mission performance-is examined. Particular emphasis is given to the methods used to obtain the weight of each of the engines. The methods illustrated can be adapted to permit selection of the optimum engine for any aircraft mission.